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Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1950, Hazel grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey because his mother, Grace Cook, wanted her son to grow up in an environment without the pressures of drugs and crime that she felt pervaded New York City. Hazel occupied himself from a young age by playing a guitar, given to him as a Christmas present by his older brother. Hazel also sang in church. At age 12, Hazel met Billy "Bass" Nelson, and the pair quickly became close friends and began performing, soon adding drummer Harvey McGee to the mix.

In 1967, the Parliaments, a Plainfield-based doo wop band headed by George Clinton, had a hit record with "(I Wanna) Testify." Clinton recruited a backing band for a tour, hiring Nelson as bassist, who in turn recommended Hazel as guitarist. Hazel was in Newark, New Jersey, working with George Blackwell and could not be reached. After Nelson returned from the tour, he tried to recruit Hazel. His mother at first vetoed the idea, since Hazel was only seventeen, but Clinton and Nelson worked together to change her mind.

In late 1967, the Parliaments went on tour with both Nelson and Hazel. In Philadelphia Hazel met and befriended Tiki Fulwood, who quickly replaced the Parliaments' drummer. Nelson, Hazel and Fulwood became the backbone of Funkadelic, which was originally the backup band for the Parliaments, only to later become an independent touring group when legal difficulties forced Clinton to temporarily abandon the name "Parliaments".

The third album's title song, "Maggot Brain", consists of a ten-minute guitar solo by Hazel. Clinton reportedly told Hazel during the recording session to imagine he had been told his mother was dead, but then learned that it was not true.[1] Music critic Greg Tate described it as Funkadelic's A Love Supreme.[1] In 2008, Rolling Stone cited this as number 60 on its list of 100 greatest "guitar songs" of all time.[2]

Nelson and Hazel officially quit Funkadelic in late 1971 over financial disputes with Clinton, though Hazel contributed to the group sporadically over the next several years. The albums America Eats Its Young (1972) and Cosmic Slop (1973) featured only marginal input from Hazel. Instead, Hazel began working with the Temptations (along with Nelson), appearing on 1990 (1973) and A Song for You (1975).

For the 1974 Funkadelic album Standing on the Verge of Getting It On, Hazel co-wrote all of the album's songs. On six of those songs the songwriting credit was in the name of Grace Cook, Hazel's mother.[1] Hazel also had a significant presence as arranger and lead guitarist on the same year's Parliament album, Up For The Down Stroke. In 1974, Hazel was indicted for assaulting an airline stewardess and an air marshal,[3] along with a drug possession charge. While Hazel was in jail, Clinton recruited Michael Hampton as the new lead guitarist for Parliament-Funkadelic.[1]

Hazel has been featured on a number of lists of greatest guitarists of all time. He was 43 on the list of Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time [7] and was ranked at 88 in a similar list by Uncut Magazine.[citation needed]